Two Ships In The Night
by CSM
Summary: Childhood friends AU. Growing up as a military kid you know the first rule is don't get attached, after if it's one thing military kids know how to do is say goodbye. Oliver does the exact opposite and falls in love with best friend.


Being a military kid had its perks, it meant living in about twice as many states as other kids his age. As a military kid, Oliver had been to almost every state imaginable, some kids by the time they are 18 probably haven't been outside of their county, much less state. Oliver though, has already experienced the cold, brutal winter in northern Alaska, and the driest, hottest summer's Arizona has ever seen. He's been to the tip of Florida peninsula and so far upstate New York he was practically in Canada. He's pretty much seen it all by the age of 14.

It's the summer of '98 when his father, Corporal Robert Queen was assigned to the military base in North Dakota. The military base had a small neighbourhood that had bike trails and a large area for kids and teens alike to ride their bikes. The only problem was at 6 years old Oliver had never owned a bike. When you move almost as much as Oliver and his family did, a bike just never factored into the equation, added to the fact that Oliver spent his time mostly in tall apartment complexes with little or no park for kids to play there was just never an opportunity for him to learn.

To say Oliver is excited to go to the park would have been an understatement and his mother, Moira, is more than happy to get out of their new house. But on the very first day at the park, Oliver stands on the sidelines watching enviously as all the kids, both younger and older than him, zoom by him on their bikes. His dad promised he'd get a bike for Christmas but that is months away and right before winter so Oliver knows it will be a while until he gets to ride a bike. He tries to hide his disappointment, but his mother sees right through it and asks him if he wants to go to the lake and skip rocks, but Oliver is insistent on staying and watching the older kids do tricks on their bikes.

His messy blonde hair is in need of a trim as it blew in his eyes the wind picking up around him. He eagerly watches the older kids zooming past him, up and over ramps some racing each other and Oliver wants nothing more than to join them in the fun. He plops onto the grass, his little feet kicking up dust as he looks on in envy.

That is, until a little girl in a checkered pink dress offers him her bike, and thus changes his life forever.

He's sitting in the grass sulking, refusing to even go on the monkey bars (his all time favourite) when she walks up to him, her bright pink bike at her side.

"Hi! I'm Felicity, do you want to race?" She asks quickly a little frown on her face. "Those stupid boys dont want to race me 'cause I'm a girl. My Momma says it's 'cause I'd beat the pants off them and they are silly. You're not a silly boy, right? You'll race me?"

She speaks so quickly that Oliver can barely keep up, and at his blank look Felicity looks around him curiously, "where's your bike? This is the bike park."

"I don't gots one." Oliver says with embarrassment looking down kicking the dirt with a soft grunt.

"Oh! Well we can take turns then!" Felicity says just as easily, already unbuckling her equally pink helmet and offering it to him. "What's your name?"

"Oliver," Oliver replies, eying the helmet warily, and then Felicity's bike, that did not have training wheels on it. Back in Colorado, Oliver had a best friend, Tommy, who lived in a _huge_ house with an equally huge yard and Oliver got to take turns riding Tommy's bike, but Tommy's bike had training wheels on it, unlike Felicity's.

"I don't have cooties, you know." Felicity says loftily, she then looks at her flowered pattern helmet and frowns, "Is it cause it's pink? Pink are not just for girls, you know."

"No." Oliver says quickly, then mutters embarrassingly, his chin pressed into his chest, "I don't know how to ride a two wheeler."

"Oh!" Felicity says in surprise and Oliver is just waiting for her to make fun of him, but instead to his surprise, she places her helmet on his head and buckles him in with an easy pat, a little harder than necessary. "I'll teach you! Imma good teacher."

"I…" But Oliver isn't allowed to protest she's already nudging him to the bike, she is even trying to take his leg and raise it over the bike for him.

Once he is partially sitting on it, one leg still firmly on the ground, Felicity held onto the handlebar and the seat, "Go on. I'll hold you. Promise."

She looks at him with such earnest, but Oliver can't seem to find it in him to raise his other leg onto the pedal.

"It's okay to be nervous," Felicity promises him, "I was scareded too."

But her words do little to comfort him. When Oliver still refuses to raise his leg she took a step towards him and he is almost afraid she was going to raise his leg for him, but instead she places her small hand on his face and raises on her tiptoes and plants a wet kiss on his lips. Her cheeks are rosey when she pulls back, but she smiles brightly, " A kiss for good luck. My Momma gives me one every time I ride and I haven't fallen yet…well I never gots hurted."

Oliver's cheeks redden in embarrassment, only his Mom ever kisses him and his dad before he goes away on long trips. There is a small squeal next to him startling both him and Felicity, they both look to their right to see a blonde woman clapping in excitement talking to Oliver's Mom.

"Momma!" Felicity calls out equally excited beckoning their mothers closer, "Imma teach Oliver how to rides my bike."

"That's very sweet of you, baby," Felicity's Mom says kindly before turning to Oliver's mother for permission. "She got it for her birthday last year and she insisted on only riding with the two wheels. She'll be very careful with him, won't you honey? No letting go unless he's 100% sure right?"

Moira takes one look at Oliver's eager expression and she knows her son's mind is made up already, "Just be careful, okay? No tricks, Oliver."

"I know, Mom." Oliver says in exasperation, his cheeks turning red. He looks across at Felicity who's still holding onto the handlebar and seat of her bike firmly. "I don't know what to do."

"Imma hold the bike and I'll push, you gotta just keeping pedalin' and when you wants me to let go I will." Felicity says seriously, her little fingers flexing over the pink handlebar but never letting go. "When you're ready let me know."

"I don't know." Oliver squirms in the seat, his nerves building he feels uneasy on the bike, with his feet planted on each pedal, but Felicity is true to her word and she holds onto the bike tightly.

"Do you wants me to get my trainers? The training wheels are easy to put on and my house is right across the street. Momma! Can Oliver and me go home to get my trainers?"

"No. No. I can do it." Oliver insists, biting his lip in concentration as he looks across at his mother pleadingly, "I can do it."

"You gots this, Oliver!" Felicity promises. "Imma only hold onto the handlebar, see yous balancin'!"

Sure enough the bicycle is upright with Oliver holding onto the handlebars, his knuckles turning white, and Felicity gripping the corner of the handlebars. Oliver grins at his mother, who is only a few feet away, close enough to intervene if anything should happen. "Mom, look!"

"I see." Moira says with encouragement, exchanging an amused grin with Donna.

"Ready, Oliver?" Felicity asks and Oliver nods in new determination.

They start off wobbling at first, Felicity not quite able to hold the bike and Oliver upright, their mothers try to intervene but both children are insistent that they've got it. After a few tries Felicity tells Oliver he can put his feet down and still ride along, and once he does that Oliver has much more confidence in finding his balance. Sure enough, by the the end of the afternoon Oliver is able to pedal almost two turns before he loses his balance. But both kids are so proud of Oliver's progress they can't stop chatting excitedly about it as they make there way to the ice cream parlor with their mothers.

From that moment on Oliver and Felicity were best friends, they did everything together and were inseparable. Oliver got his bicycle from Santa as promised and he and Felicity would ride around her big basement during the cold North Dakota winters until spring comes and they are _finally_ allowed to go out on the bike ramps.

North Dakota is Oliver's favourite state and he never wants to move again, but 18 months after they first meet, Oliver's dad gets reassigned and Oliver moves to sunny California almost 2000 miles away.

Felicity tries to kidnap him, she ties him to one her chairs with her skipping rope and promises him that she'll take good care of him, and he can live in her tiny little closet. Oliver contemplates her decision for all of two minutes before he realizes he can't leave his mom on her own, especially when his dad goes off for training for weeks. In the end he convinces Felicity to let him him go, not before the two of them cry themselves to sleep on the plush duvets of Felicity's closet. Felicity made up a bed and everything for Oliver in her closet.

Their moms promise they can talk on the phone as much as possible, and the first night in their new home Oliver gets to call Felicity before bedtime and they _finally_ get to talk. Felicity tells him all about this old computer her Daddy got and how she wants to take it apart. She talks so much about it, Oliver didn't even get to tell her about his new room before he had to say goodbye, but the next day when Oliver and his mom are out exploring their new neighbourhood Oliver realizes getting to talk on the phone like a grown up, with Felicity is not nearly as much fun as having her race along the monkey bars with him.

At 7 years old Oliver is certain this is what a broken heart feels like, he now gets why girls are always singing about it on the radio.

* * *

When Oliver's 10 years old he gets a baby sister, Thea. The past three Christmases and birthdays, he's wished that Felicity would move to California so that he can have someone to play with.

A baby sister who only sleeps and cries is _not_ want he wanted or asked for.

Felicity told him Santa isn't real, but she doesn't even have a Christmas tree, so he didn't believe her. He yelled at her she was just a liar and she hung up on him, but then he asked his mom if he could call her back to apologize and he's just mad that he hasn't seen her in _forever_ and Thea cries _all_ the time.

By now he and Felicity have weekly phone calls, every Saturday Oliver gets to talk to her for a whole 30 minutes, usually Felicity talks the most, but Oliver doesn't mind 'cause he loves hearing her stories.

Today is Saturday but instead of sitting at home waiting for 5 o'clock for Felicity to call, Oliver is in a loud smelly airport waiting for his Dad to get their luggage. They were in Florida for a family vacation, something they _never_ got to do. His mom was excited for Thea's first trip to the beach, she even bought a cute little red and white polka dot swimsuit for Thea. Oliver thinks the entire thing is stupid, they could have driven the 2 hours to the closest beach and let Thea touch the sand _there._ Thea can barely sit up on her own, she's not going to care if they are in California or _Florida_. Now, Oliver is going to miss his Saturday call to Felicity _and_ he's gotta wait in a smelly _hot_ airport.

Oliver is standing against the wall absently kicking it in annoyance when his mom calls out to him, "Oliver, honey, why don't you go help dad with the suitcases."

"I don't want to," Oliver grumbles, he looks at his Captain America watch and sighs when he sees the shorter hand is no longer on five, but six, he missed Felicity's call.

"Let your dad change the time on your watch once we're at the hotel." Moira says she shifts a sleeping Thea onto her other shoulder and nudges Oliver towards the baggage carousel. "Go and help your father."

He's still looking at his watch as though it could somehow connect him to Felicity, but he knows that's just in movies.

"OLIVER!"

Oliver's head shoots up at the sound of his name from a very familiar voice, he looks to his right and his jaw drops, Felicity is dressed in a pretty pink dress her blonde hair in a disarray as she runs towards him. He looks back at his mother stupidly and his mother is smiling widely, nodding in confirmation, not that he needs confirmation it _is_ Felicity.

He looks back his eyes still wide in shock as Felicity tackles him into a tight hug, Oliver's arms are limp at his side and he looks back at his mother, yet again, still in shock.

Moira grins her eyes filling with tears, "You can hug her, baby."

Felicity's face is red and blotchy her blue eyes wide and shiny, "I missed you."

Her words seem to have finally registered to Oliver and his limbs finally begin to move and he pulls her into a tight hug burying his face in her blonde hair. She smells like her bubblegum shampoo, _exactly_ like he remembered. His eyes begin to fill with tears and he can hear Felicity sniffling next to his ear. He didn't think he could miss someone as much as he missed Felicity, but she's standing here and suddenly the smelly old airport doesn't seem so bad anymore.

He doesn't want to let her go. He doesn't know why he's crying.

"I _really_ missed you, Felicity." He tries to not cry, but his words come out a sob and he hugs her tightly once again.

Felicity little arms tighten around his waist and he rubs his wet cheek against her hair. "She won't disappear, buddy."

He pulls back to see Donna smiling at him, a video camera in her hand and she's wiping her eyes, both of their moms are crying. Oliver pulls back and grins widely at his mom, she only laughs in return.

"Great surprise, right?" She teases him.

Oliver can only nod his head vigorously, he looks at Felicity who is now bouncing on the balls of her feet and smiling just as widely, "Hi."

"Hi." Oliver returns and they both break out into giggles. He briefly hears his mother tell them to stay put while they get the suitcases but he's too busy smiling at Felicity.

"I got a new sister." Oliver blurts out, but then his cheeks pink up in embarrassment. Thea is 6 months, Felicity has known about her for _ages_.

"I saw her, she's really tiny." Felicity says as she twirls in her spot, she never could sit still. She's exactly like he remembered just a little taller, but he's taller too. "I wish I had a sister."

"You can have mine."

"Oliver!" Felicity admonishes, "I can't take your sister, your Mommy will miss her too much."

"Yea." Oliver thinks he'd probably miss Thea too, even if all she does is cry and tries to eat Captain America's shield. Oliver did _not_ like that at all. "We can share her."

"What?" Felicity asks slightly confused, "We can't _share_ your sister. I live all the way in Ohio and you live on the west coast. We can't ship your sister back and forth."

"Yea." Oliver thinks despondently and Felicity frowns as well, but then Oliver perks up, "Maybe my Dad will get placed in Ohio and _then_ we can share her. She's not much fun now, but Mom promises she'll can run and play baseball with me when she's older."

"I don't want to play baseball, I can teach her how to build a computer!" Felicity bounces excitedly on her feet at the mention of her computer, she only recently built it and the last time Oliver spoke to her, she told him all about it. "I wish Mommy told me I was coming to see you, I would have brought it to show you. I have so many things I wanna show you."

"When I move to Ohio, you can show me." Oliver promises.

Felicity suddenly leaps forward and engulfs Oliver in a hug again, this time Oliver doesn't hesitate and hugs her immediately. "I really really hope you move to Ohio. I missed you, too much."

"Me too." Oliver says just as earnestly.

Two months later Oliver moves to Pennsylvania, his mom told him he's only a 5 hour drive from Felicity. Oliver is so excited he packs up his bags faster than he's ever done, but the day before they are to fly out to their new home Felicity's mom calls to say they are moving to Hawaii and just like that Oliver's heart broke all over again.

* * *

When Oliver is 14 years old, his mother gets the call no military wife ever wants to get. Oliver gets home one afternoon from school with 5 year old Thea. He notices the military car outside, but thinks that his Dad just got home early, he doesn't tell Thea that however just in case it's not the case. He's lived this life long enough to know how these things work, his friend Jerry up the street lost his mother last year and it's not the first time he's heard or seen about it.

But when he steps into the house, the entire atmosphere changes, the room is quiet, too quiet. He enters the living room to see his mother sitting in an arm chair flanked by two officers. She's red eyed and just _broken,_ and Oliver knows immediately what has happened.

He shakes his head as he takes a step back, his backpack falling to the floor with a thunk. His mother makes her way towards him, she's apologizing, trying to explain, but Oliver can't make out anything she says, his entire body is numb.

The next few days are a blur, so many people come and go out of their house and Oliver locks himself in his room, none of them are who he wants to see. He just wants his dad back, but he's not a kid he knows that's not possible, so he just wants the next best thing.

The only problem is his best friend is currently living in cold dreary Alaska, there is a whole other _continent_ between them - 3,842 miles to be precise - according to Felicity. Over the years the two of them got even closer, with Felicity's help, Oliver learned the ins and out of emails and MSN. They were both trying their hardest to convince their parents to get them cellphones, but they suspect that is a futile attempt - again Felicity's words.

Thanks to technology Oliver is able to talk to his best friend almost as though she's right next to him, but right now he needs Felicity _here_ with him and not a digital copy of Felicity. He needs her to tell him everything is going to be okay. He needs her to just make it better in the only way Felicity can.

Oliver curls around his pillow, burying his face in his sheets, ignoring the insistent knocking at his door. "Go away!"

It's probably one of his neighbours, and it's rude to yell, but Oliver just doesn't care. He doesn't care anymore.

"Well, with that kinda greeting I think I'm gonna have to eat all this ice cream on my own."

Oliver head shoots up so fast at the familiar voice he loses his balance and falls off his bed with a loud bang, his pillows and duvet tumbling after him.

"Well, that's one way to fall for a girl." Felicity quips, her voice getting louder, and Oliver rolls onto his back wincing slightly to see her standing over him a carton of ice cream in her hand, silver spoon beating against the container anxiously. Her eyes widen when she catches her words and she pinks up, "Not that I think you are falling for me...I meant from fall from the bed….Hi."

Recently, Felicity has been doing these long winded _babbles_ around him and for the life of him Oliver can't figure out _why_. He just thinks it's adorable, but she usually gets so embarrassed when she does it, he doesn't want to make her uncomfortable further by telling her he thinks it's cute. _She's_ cute.

He's not sure if he's allowed to think his best friend is cute.

"Felicity."

Oliver breathes out her name relief, her very presence just making him feel _lighter_ somehow, and before he can think about it he rises on his elbow reaches out for her hand and tugs her towards him. She squeaks out in surprise and tumbles onto the floor, landing with with a soft thud.

"Now, who's falling for who?" He quips out lightly, and at her wide look, his cheeks redden.

Did he just _flirt_ with Felicity?

"Ice cream," Felicity squeaks out. She pulls out fallen ice cream pint from behind their heads and offers it to him, her voice softer now full of meaning, "ice cream."

He sees the mint chocolate chip label and all his resolve crumbles, whenever either of them is having a bad day the other would pull out a pint of mint chocolate chip and they would share it, even if they are thousand of miles away or right next door they'd always have ice cream.

"My dad's gone," Oliver whispers.

"I'm so sorry, Oliver" Felicity whispers back her eyes filling with tears, she pulls him towards her so that his body curls around hers just like he was curled around his pillow earlier.

She rubs his back soothingly and for the first time since his mother broke the news to him, Oliver cries.

They stay like that for the longest while, Felicity doesn't say anything, she just continues to alternate between rubbing his back and running her fingers against his scalp. It's something his mom use to do when he was younger, but Oliver's body never felt like he was warm from the inside out, his body is exhausted but yet acutely aware of Felicity's. He is curled around her body, his face buried in her hair and she smells like bubblegum and some kind of flower.

He finally pulls back and wipes his bloodshot eyes, Felicity's own face is equally red, "Thank you."

"You never have to thank me for being your best friend, Oliver." Felicity says earnestly. She grabs the forgotten pint of ice cream along with the two spoons and offers it to him.

Oliver gives her a watery smile and takes the container from her, while Felicity surveys their makeshift pile of blankets and pillows, "Do you wanna get off the floor?"

Oliver shakes his head in the negative and and tugs her closer to him, one of his duvets wrapping around them, "No, it reminds of that time you tried to kidnap me and keep me in your closet."

Felicity smiles fondly at the memory as she takes the first bite of ice cream, as per tradition, "If kidnapping you would take away all your pain, I'd do it all over again."

Oliver's chest tightens at her words and without even thinking about what he's doing, he places a hand on her cheek to gain her attention and when she looks at him with wide blue eyes he leans forward and places a kiss on her lips.

Felicity reacts almost instantaneously and pulls back ending the kiss before it could start. Oliver's heart shatters at the rejection, he tries to move away but Felicity grabs his hand her cheeks red and blotchy, "I'm sorry…"

"No, I'm sorry I shouldn't have.." Oliver stumbles over his words, he _wanted_ to do that, but if she didn't want to, then he doesn't want her to feel bad for it.

"No...not that." Felicity speaks quickly, "I didn't want our first kiss... _my_ first kiss to be surrounded by all of _this_. Sorry that's selfish, and stupid and I'm making things worse, when I _wanted_ you to kiss me and I…"

Oliver presses his lips against hers again, this time silencing her, he can taste the mint chocolate on her lips mixed with the salt of their tears, but his entire body soars when her hand moves to cup his cheek and she pressed her lips a little bit more firmly against his.

They part and Felicity's clear blue eyes are staring back at him, her mouth slightly parted, her lips pink from _his_ kiss. "I want my first kiss... _our_ first kiss to be the one good thing that happens today."

"Oh!" Felicity squeaks in surprise.

They never talked about things like this, but Oliver knew for quite some time that his first kiss was going to be with Felicity and he'd hope that he would be hers as well. She smiles at him shyly, and all Oliver wants to do is kiss her again, so he does.

She gives another surprised squeak, but she recovers much more quickly and kisses him back in earnest. They are both uncertain of what to do, but neither them hold back either.

Felicity's lips are soft and wet and Oliver is okay with spending the rest of his life in this room, just kissing her. He makes a daring move to run his tongue along her top lip and then clumsily tries to slip it between her slightly parted lips but Felicity pulls back. This time she only presses her forehead against his own, both of their breathing shallow.

"Oliver, we can't." This time he knows she's not rejecting him, but she telling him they can't hide away in his room forever, no matter how much he wants to.

"You need to say goodbye to your dad." Felicity whispers softly, her voice breaking, her arms snake around his waist and she pulls him to her.

"I don't know if I can," Oliver chokes out.

"I'll be there with you the whole time."

"Promise?"

"Always."

* * *

For Oliver's 17th birthday he is finally allowed to have the car that his dad left for him. It's a 1980 Chevy silverado, it's _old_ but his dad's best friend Walter, promises Oliver and his mom -his mom more than anything - that it's in perfect condition. He's been waiting all year for this, he took a few tries to pass his driver's test and his mother thus pushed his gift to his 17th birthday. The moment Oliver gets the keys he hits the road, to the local park - it's the furthest place his mom allows him on his own - but it's the best 10 minute drive of his life. The only thing missing was having his girl at his side.

He calls her excitedly that day, to tell her about his great adventure of solo driving, and complete control over the radio, only to realize Felicity is having a crisis of her own.

"It's silly, I know." Felicity admits softly.

She's lounging on her bed, her laptop perched on her knees as she and Oliver talk via Skype. Her blonde hair is in a messy bun and her small framed glasses are perched on her nose. Oliver is still trying to get use to her new glasses; she no longer looks like that little girl he met all those years ago, not that at 17, Oliver is the small shrimpy 6 year old either.

"It's just junior prom is a big deal and because I've been moving schools so often I thought I'd get this one _normal_ , thing you know? I'm not even the same age as anyone in my class, I don't know why I care so much. I should just get started on my summer online courses and forget about it."

"Hey, if it's important to you, then it's important." Oliver promises, earning a smile in return.

"I don't know why it is though, it's not like I'm _that_ girl, despite my mother's insistence. She gave me a make up tutorial earlier this week." Felicity rolls her eyes at the thought.

Felicity and her mother are like night and day, while Oliver loves the way Felicity dresses with her cute shorts and tank tops or t-shirt and jeans, her mother on the other hand tries to get her daughter to 'embrace being a girl'. Oliver isn't too sure what _that_ means, but from Felicity's play backs it requires a _lot_ of dresses and make-up. Felicity has suddenly had an aversion to dresses since she was 10, Oliver has no clue why, but he likes the stuff she wears anyway. He's pretty sure her aversion to dresses is just Felicity defying her mother. In fact over the past few years Oliver has notice that Felicity's wardrobe has gone considerably _darker_ , she even mentioned wanting to dye her hair purple or black, but Oliver's pretty sure that won't happen until Felicity's out of her mother's house.

"Oh and thank you, by the way."

"For what?"

"For existing?" Felicity quips with a short laugh. "My mother told me she's so proud that I have a boyfriend. Like apparently, that's an accomplishment that I needed to strive to achieve, not getting straight A's in all my AP classes. Skipping not one but _two_ grades and doing an accelerated program to get in MIT. No, my mother is proud that I at least have a _boyfriend_. I'm pretty sure if you weren't in my life I wouldn't care either way."

"You're welcome?" Oliver asks with a frown unsure where that particular ramble came from.

Lately, Oliver has been feeling particularly inadequate around Felicity, not that he'd ever tell _her_ that. But, with both of them one year away from graduation, Felicity already has her foot in MIT, she's had interviews and everything. Being the youngest applicant in history is a big deal and Oliver is proud of her, but at 17 Oliver doesn't even know what he wants to do with his life and he's graduating next year as well. It's not Felicity's fault Oliver has no direction and he's ridiculously proud of her accomplishments anyway.

"Oh no, babe. I didn't mean it like that." Felicity says quickly sitting up so she can look him in the eye, through the camera that is.

Oliver is pretty sure he's in love with Felicity, he hasn't told her yet, but that's more because he actually wants to tell her in _person_. It's been almost a year since they've seen each other in person and it's frustrating to say the least. There are days when he just wants to _hug_ his girlfriend, but she's at least 2000 miles away. He's also frustrated in _other_ ways and there is nothing he can do about it.

"On top of being _you_ , you know my best friend, boyfriend and just all around _awesome_ you are also saving me from the nosey busy body that is Donna Smoak." Felicity hardly ever uses words like _awesome_ so Oliver knows she's teasing added to the exaggerated and _terrible_ attempt at a wink has Oliver laughing.

"Felicity, you're remarkable." Oliver confesses as though it's a secret he's been keeping for years.

Felicity pinks up immediately at his compliment, the blush going well below her light tank top and Oliver is so curious to know how far it goes, "Thank you for remarking on it."

Her response is so cute and just _Felicity_ it's in that very moment Oliver just knows, he's in love with her, utterly and hopelessly in love with her. He wants to tell her immediately, but he can't. He wants that moment to be special to the both of them, he wants to be able to _kiss_ his girlfriend when he does, and he has the _perfect_ surprise to ensure that happens.

"What's that smile for?" Felicity asks with her own smile, her cheeks still slightly pink and for a brief moment Oliver wonders if he took a page from her book and accidentally blurted out his feelings.

"How would you feel about getting your birthday gift this month?"

Felicity nose wrinkles in confusion and Oliver can practically see the wheels turning in her head, "but, my birthday isn't for another 6 months."

"I know, but you're moving in a week's time, missing your first prom and I thought instead of being stuck in a new state and new school _again_ what if you visited me in sunny Tallahassee? We can drive down to the beach just the two of us spend the Memorial weekend together. Maybe you can convince your Mom to let you come Thursday night? We'd have four whole days together."

Felicity is looking at him with eager anticipation now and Oliver knows that she's figured him out, at least he hopes she's not completely figured him out, he still wants to surprise her. "You were going to surprise me for my birthday?"

Oliver cheeks warm at her touched expression, "sixteen is a big deal right?"

"Oliver, _you_ saving up to come see me halfway across the country is a big deal." She looks so moved by his gesture, Oliver wonders if she's about to cry. He can only see her computer reflection in her glasses so he can't tell.

"Well, now that you're moving back to the east coast I can actually afford to bring you here this month and still take you to some nice places. That is if you want come."

"Are you kidding? Of course I want to come! Four days with you _and_ four days without my mother? Sign me up." Felicity says excitedly going to much so to clap her hands. "I can't believe you'd do this for me."

Oliver grins stupidly at her in return, "well it's entirely selfish reasons 'cause I wanna see you."

"Well by all means, continue to be selfish then." Felicity giggles, her face flushed as she bites her lip. "Can I tell you a secret?"

It's an odd reaction to say the least, that is until she shifts a little closer to the computer and her voice lowers at her question, and Oliver's pants tightens immediately. By now Oliver is use to his body reaction so strongly to Felicity and he's almost certain her confession is along the lines where Oliver's is.

At least he hopes so.

"Always." Oliver squeaks out, and clears his throat in embarrassment, it's been so long since his voice cracked _that_ badly.

"Ever since we found out you inherited your Dad's truck, I've had this dream of two of us lying on a big pile of blankets in the tray of your truck, watching the stars."

"Only watching the stars?" Oliver teases, and to his great amusement Felicity blushes even harder and hides behind her hands, "Felicity, was this dream a _fantasy_?"

"Okay. _Fine_. So maybe we didn't _watch_ the stars. There was some _stuff_."

Oliver smirks at her confession, "Dirty stuff?"

"Oliver!"

"Okay, I'll stop teasing you." Oliver promises a smile still on his face.

They of course have talked about sex in the past, but everything is still so foreign and new to them and despite the fact that they are both currently juniors in high school Oliver knows that his girlfriend is after all only 15. They both agreed to wait, when you're practically dating for over a 10 and not even out of high school there is no rush. Those were Felicity's words, not his. They only officially said they were dating last year when they saw each other over the winter break. Felicity is pretty much it for Oliver, he's known that for a while, so he'd never rush her into anything she wasn't comfortable with.

"No, it's okay I brought it up and my mom is always telling me if you can't _talk_ about sex then you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." She says it so matter-of-factly Oliver can't help but smile.

Donna Smoak may make Felicity crazy on occasion, but Oliver knows that Felicity appreciates everything her mother does, after all the majority of the time Felicity's father is off in deep ends of the ocean and hardly around. They only have each other.

The rest of the night they talk more about Felicity's 'dream' and by the end of the night Oliver is even more motivated to ensure that his plan goes off without a hitch.

Ooo0ooo

Oliver stands anxiously at arrivals poster rolled up in his hand as he shifts from one foot to the next. His palms are sweating and he has to put the poster under his arm not wanting to get sweat stains on it.

"Are you gonna ask Felicity to marry you?" A squeaky voice asks and Oliver looks down at 7 year old Thea, who is bouncing on the balls of her feet, her brown eyes wide and curious.

Oliver usually babysits Thea while his mom is at work, and he couldn't get anyone to watch her, so she's here as his own little peanut gallery.

"No. You know I always make a sign for her when she visits, Speedy." Oliver says in exasperation.

"Then why are you so nervous?" Thea points out.

"I'm not nervous. I'm excited."

"Are you gonna ask her to prom?" Thea prompts again.

Oliver narrows his eyes at her question, Thea's eyes flutter innocently, "you read the sign didn't you?"

"Duh."

"Then why did you ask me if I was gonna propose?"

" 'Cause your whole face turns red like a tomato." Thea says grinning. She bounces again on her tiptoes to try and see through the crowd, when she takes two steps forward Oliver grabs ahold of her hoodie stopping her.

"Don't run away, Speedy."

"Don't call me, Speedy!" Thea huffs pointing a little finger accusingly at Oliver, but he only rolls his eyes in return and tugging one of her pigtails which earns him a loud growl in response.

"Are you bothering your sister again?" A teasing voice calls out.

Both Oliver and Thea turn around in surprise and Thea is the first to react, she tosses her doll to Oliver and throws herself at Felicity. "FELICITY!"

Felicity laughs as she wraps her arms around Thea, hoisting the little girl into her arms. Thea might be seven but she's still really tiny for seven. "Ollie has a surprise for you."

"Speedy." Oliver says with a groan.

"Ask her Ollie." Thea says eagerly. She looks at Felicity with wide excited eyes.

"Ask me what?" Felicity asks now confused.

Oliver smiles shyly at Felicity, he's just about to unroll the poster when Thea squeaks out in excitement tugging Felicity's face so she's looking at her instead of Oliver. "Felicity, you wanna go to prom with Ollie?"

"Speedy." Oliver groans loudly, he _knew_ he should have kept that a secret from his sister.

"What? Oliver?" Felicity looks across and Olive startled and she gasps when she sees the sign. In large bold handwriting instead of Felicity's name, like it usually is when she visits it reads "Felicity, will you go to prom with me?'

Felicity gasps putting her hand to her mouth, "Oliver, I thought this weekend was about going to beach and pointedly forgetting about prom?"

"We can still do that, but my school's junior prom is Friday night and well I thought…"

"Oh my god yes!" Felicity squeals in delight placing Thea on the ground so that she can tackle Oliver in her own excited hug. "I can't believe you did that. You said you hated the idea of wearing a tux and I can't believe you did this."

"Well the only time I ever wore one was to my dad's...well I want some happy memories, with you."

"Thank you." Felicity says overwhelmed and this time Oliver can see her eyes filling with tears she rises on her tiptoes and plants a big wet kiss on his lips before either of them could deepening Thea squeals out in disgust earning looks from surrounding passengers.

Oliver rolls his eyes and ruffles Thea's hair tugging her Felicity along with his other.

"I still have to get a dress and shoes and I'm never more grateful my mother shoved that massive makeup bag in my suitcase."

"Ollie bought you a dress and everything!" Thea says excitedly glad to be included in the conversation.

Felicity narrows her eyes at her guilty boyfriend already figuring him out, "you asked my mom didn't you?"

"How else was I supposed to know what to get?" Oliver says sheepishly. He takes Felicity suitcase for her keeping an eye on Thea who runs ahead.

"It freaks me out that you text my mom so much. Sometimes I wonder if you text her more than me."

"Never." Oliver promises with a laugh his eyes dancing with mirth, he's just so happy that she's here. "Only when it comes to surprising you."

Felicity huffs but Oliver knows that she is pleased by the turn events. She's not wrong, Oliver has no desire to go to his junior prom, in fact the only time he was ever grateful they didn't live in the same state meant he wasn't obligated to go. However, when he realized how important it was to _her_ he realized he couldn't just let the moment past. Getting to see Felicity in a fancy baby blue knee length dress was just the icing on the cake.

His mother naturally takes loads of pictures, Donna Skypes from home and they both cry while Oliver and Felicity stand patiently in the backyard, the front porch the bottom of the staircase. Basically everywhere his mother just _needed_ to get pictures.

Thea wanted to dress up with Felicity, so obviously she needed to take pictures with them too.

Fifteen minutes into prom and Oliver realizes that the impromptu photoshoot his mother and sister insisted on was more fun than this prom any day.

Since Oliver's dad died his family moved to Tallahassee when his Mom got a job offer and for the first time in his life Oliver has been living in the same place for more than two years in a row. In fact this is the only high school Oliver has ever been too.

His friends are great they treat Felicity with respect, they jostled Oliver about Felicity actually existing a running joke between his friends as Felicity has never been to Tallahassee before.

But after an hour of awkward dancing and swaying to the music Oliver is ready to ditch his bow tie, jacket and just wants to spend some quality time with his girlfriend.

"Oliver?" Felicity's voice is soft as she buries her face his chest, her arms laced around his waist, "would you completely hate me if I asked if we could leave a little earlier? I wish I could blame it on jet lag but I've been living on the east coast for a week now. If you don't want to leave I totally understand and I…"

"Can we go now?" Oliver asks interrupting her.

"Oh thank god." Felicity breathes a sigh of relief when Oliver tugs her to the nearest exist. "I was right, prom is overrated."

Oliver laughs wholeheartedly as they make their way across the deserted car park, "I was just glad to see you in a dress again."

"It was fun to dress up, but shh don't let my mother know she's going to want this…" She gestures to her face full of makeup bright red lips that are slightly smudged from Oliver's kisses, her usually curly blonde hair is sleeky and straight almost to the curve of her breasts, "to be a regular thing, and it was _fun_ don't get me wrong, but maybe when I'm older running my own cyber security business and gotta look good for people."

"You always look good." Oliver says automatically.

Felicity giggles and twirls in the middle of the car park, the bottom of her dress flaring up as she spins and Oliver's breath catches in his throat when he sees a brief glimpse of the curve of Felicity's ass encased in matching baby blue panties. While that view is amazing, it's the twinkle in Felicity's eyes - she forego her glasses tonight - and the cheer joy radiating on her face that makes Oliver's heart stop.

The night air suddenly becomes cool and Felicity shivers slightly, Oliver is just about to offer her his jacket when the clouds open up and it begins rain. Oliver tries to urge Felicity towards his truck, but she shakes her head and spins around opening her mouth to catch the falling rain. Her makeup is essentially ruined and Oliver is sure he can hear Donna's cry of horror from here, the only thing remaining are her plump red lips but Felicity doesn't care.

"We lived in Nevada for 18 months and do you know it rained probably 5 times that _entire_ time? It made me miss England."

Oliver shakes his head in amusement, "Do you really want to catch a cold your second night here?"

Felicity only rolls her eyes at his comment and tugs him to her, "dance with me."

"There is no music." Oliver reminds her, they have both learned that he has two left feet, but Felicity doesn't care.

"I don't care, I only need you." Felicity declares her eyes bright and so full of love, Oliver knows that this it, this girl is it for him.

"I love you." Oliver blurts out.

So maybe he should have tried a little bit harder to be more elegant. He had the entire moment planned for _tomorrow_ night, but yet here they are dancing in the rain and Oliver throws those plans right out the window.

Felicity eyes light up at his words and they stop swaying, she cups his cheek wiping away the raindrops, "I love you too."

She rises on her tiptoes her fingers tugging gently on the back of his head as their lips meet again. The rest of the world disappears around them and all Oliver is aware of is the feeling of Felicity pressed up against him, her fingers curled around his shirt collar, the other tugging at his hair.

Her lips are soft and inviting and he runs his tongue over her bottom lip before she slips her tongue between his. He groans softly against her mouth, his fingers digging into her hip, the soft wet material of her dress sliding against his callous fingertips.

Felicity releases a deep low moan and presses herself against him her leg hooking around his own, " _Oliver_."

She tries to pull back, but Oliver moves his hand up her back and into her wet blonde locks pulling her in again and she does little to resist. When she pulls back again, she moves in and pecks his lips, once, twice, three times until she pulls back panting slightly, water running down the tip of her nose and Oliver leans forward to lick it off earning a giggle in return.

"Do you think we still have time to go to the beach?" Felicity whispers nervously, biting her now swollen lips.

"I.." Oliver is at a lost of words not exactly expecting his night to take a turn like this.

"I dont want to...I mean I'm still not ready yet." Felicity clarifies quickly, her cheeks pink under the bright light of the street lamp, "but we still have a few hours till curfew so I thought…"

Oliver grabs her face with both hands and kisses her soundly, she giggles into his mouth tasting like fruit punch and raindrops. "Let's go."

He takes her to his favourite beach, a small secluded beach, that is almost unknown to tourist. He drives his truck all the way up onto the shore reversing it so that the back is facing the shoreline. The waves are crashing against the sand, the moon slowly beginning to peek out from behind a few stray clouds, they have seem to driven away from the stormy clouds overlooking his high school.

They have lost their shoes and Oliver's jacket as they venture onto the wet sand. Felicity is a few steps ahead of Oliver and she rushes to the crashing shoreline, giggling loudly when the cold water nips at her feet, "Oliver, this is beautiful."

"It is." He never once looks at the rising moon, and when Felicity turns around to see him staring at her she smiles shyly.

"So how rough is the water?" Felicity asks her tone full of mischief her eyes dancing.

"You're the one whose dad works with the marines." Oliver teases. He leans against his truck laughing when Felicity sticks her tongue out at him, she spins around and looks at the water thoughtfully.

"Yes, but that means I know the waters can _look_ calm but that doesn't mean they are. 'Never underestimate the power of the sea, Felicity Megan.'" Felicity voice goes deep as she mocks her father's low bartone.

Oliver laughs when she spins around to face him, her hands on her hips. Her hair is now it's natural curly disarray, having dried from the rain and partially due to Oliver's kisses. "It's usually as calm as a lake, it's why I like it so much. These are the most waves it's ever had."

The waves in question are really only at the shoreline and suddenly that mischievous grin returns on Felicity's face, the clouds are all but gone now so she's practically glowing in the moonlight, her blue dress twinkling.

"I was hoping you would say that." Felicity teases and Oliver watches in amazement as she bends her arms at an awkward angle and despite the sounds of the waves and the wind blowing, Oliver is acutely aware of the sound of her zipper coming undone.

"Felicity." Oliver chokes out as her dress drops and he's given a full view of her round breast, her nipples either hardening from the cool summer breeze or Oliver's stares.

He's only been recently privy to seeing Felicity's boobs but today is the first time he's seeing them in the flesh, so to speak and he's at a loss for words. He hasn't even moved from his perch against his truck, he's still staring open mouth at Felicity.

"Last one in's a rotten egg!" Felicity calls out with a laugh and to Oliver utter astonishment she shimmies out of her panties and runs off to the sea.

Oliver is so mesmerized by the curves of her bare ass he doesn't even register that he's _still_ fully clothed and sitting on his truck, until Felicity disappears under the water.

He all but yanks off his bowtie trying his best to unbutton his shirt as fast as he can, but only getting frustrated with himself. He can hear Felicity's laughter in the distance.

"Need some help?" She calls out teasingly she makes her way closer to the shoreline and Oliver can see the water crashing against her nipples as she moves.

That's all the encouragement Oliver needs and he rids himself of his clothes in record time and dives into the water with a splash. When he resurfaces Felicity is only a few feet away wiping her face free of water and grinning at him widely.

She swims towards him her blonde hair slicked back, her eyes twinkling, their faces are just inches apart, Oliver realizes she can't touch the seabed, and she's using her arms to keep herself afloat.

Oliver reaches out to her, his arm going around her waist and tugs her to him, they both groan and the sudden impact of their wet naked bodies against the other. Felicity wraps her legs around his torso, her arm on his shoulder so he's now the one keeping her afloat.

Oliver can feel _all_ of her, he can feel way her nipples harden and pressed firmly against his skin, the curve of her breasts shifting with each wave the crashes into them. His cock has since jumped to attention and is now nestled against her ass cheek and every time she rocks against him the tip of his head slips between her cheeks.

"Fuck." Oliver hisses out.

" _Wow_." Felicity returns in kind, her pupils are dilated her lips parted, they lock eyes for all but a second before they are attacking each other.

Felicity bites on his lip, rolling her hips in time with the water, each time her nipples brush against his skin she hisses. The buoyancy of the water allows her to keep afloat so Oliver's hands are free to roam and he doesn't let the opportunity go. He moves to cup her ass, taking a cheek in each hand, massaging them slowly, only encouraged by the soft moans Felicity makes. He can feel her heat pressed against his stomach as she rocks against him arching her back.

He latches on to the column on her neck sucking on it hard, then soothing it with her tongue, something he knows she loves. Sure enough she only begins to rock more against him with greater urgency.

He peppers kisses down her throat and runs his tongue against the curve of her breast, she tastes salty like the ocean, and Oliver just wants to devourer her. He squeezes her ass cheeks tightly and she hisses out his name, panting when he hoists her up a little higher so he can wrap his lips around her nipple.

He's not sure what he's doing, but he's just going by the sounds that she makes, when he sucks a little hard and he feels her tense he eases up, when he circles his tongue over her nipple and she practically mews his name, he knows he's doing something right.

" _Oliver_."

There is a sense of urgency in her tone almost fright and Oliver pulls away immediately unsure if he did something wrong, but when he looks up at her, her cheeks are red, her eyes dilated and her hips have yet to stop their movement against his torso he knows it's anything but.

He's only ever seen her like this through the grainy lens of his computer camera, the few times their Skype chats got out of hand. He pulls in for a surging kiss and the trails his fingers down her stomach and between her legs, he looks at he for permission and she nods her head frantically. The moment his fingers come in contact with her folds, Felicity hisses out his name; she's wet, and not from the ocean, Oliver can feel the difference against his fingertips and he can slip one finger in with ease. He looks at her to see if he's doing it right and she only nods in encouragement her hips rocking against his hand, her nails dig into his shoulder. He slips another finger between her folds and slowly starts to move them, Felicity soft pants mixing with the crashing of the waves against them. He does it two, three more times and then her entire body tenses, her back arching high out of the water as she gasps out his name.

It's the hottest fucking thing Oliver has ever seen and he's surprised he hasn't busted his load yet.

"Oh wow." Felicity gasps, out of breath, her face flushed under the moonlight, "Oh _wow_. That was _so_ much better than doing it on my own."

" _Felicity. Fuck."_ Oliver hisses out at her comment and they are then both acutely aware of Oliver's current predicament.

" _Oh!"_ Felicity says in surprise when she rubs her ass against his length.

But then she's moving off of him and before Oliver can grab at her in protest, her small hand is wrapped around him and he's lost all sense of coherent thought. Her fingers are nimble, unsure but she moves it gently against his length, squeezing it ever so often. Her finger swirls around his tip, and that's when he realizes Felicity paid _very_ close attention to their Skype sessions as he did.

"Is this okay?" She asks with uncertainty. They are both standing now her boobs are just barely bobbing out of the water as she fondles him.

"Uh-huh." Oliver gives out a strangle gasp as she tightens around him, but then releases him again, the added movement of the water is a new sensation, and Oliver is only that much closer to his release.

He keens out her name, his hips now rocking into her hand, she picks up her speed and his entire body tenses when he finally comes. She's right, it's _so_ much better than doing it on your own.

Felicity's eyes are wide and full of wonder her hands now resting on his shoulders, "That was fun."

Oliver throws his head back and laughs wholeheartedly at her understatement, " _Yea."_

He pulls her in for another kiss and sighs against her mouth, "I love you."

"I love you too." Felicity smiles widely and pecks on the mouth a few more times, "We probably should get out of here and dry off before we head back to your house."

Oliver winces, his mother would _not_ be pleased if they came home soaked and covered in sand, "Yea, now I wished I had already packed for our trip to the beach tomorrow."

"We have two towels, a blanket and some snacks and water in the back seat." Felicity grins sheepishly as they swim around before they head to the shore.

"You planned this!" Oliver accused with a wide grin, "you planned the whole thing."

"I didn't plan, _this_." Felicity gestures to their naked bodies, "but I did have a backup plan in case the prom was a bust."

"I love you!" Oliver declares pulling her in for a scorching kiss just before the wade out of the water.

"I kinda love me too." Felicity says with an impish grin, running off before Oliver can grab her.

They spend the rest of the night lying on the blanket exploring each other as their bodies dry off. The rest of the weekend isn't as exciting but they do spend more time on the beach with Thea and Oliver's mom.

The weekend is almost perfect except for the part that every time an hour goes by, closer to the time Felicity needs to leave a little of piece of Oliver dies along with it. When he stands by departure, it's first time in all the years they've done this, that Oliver cries watching her retreating figure disappear beyond the revolving door.

* * *

A year later they both graduate high school at the same time, Felicity is on her way to MIT in the fall and Oliver, Oliver has taken a year off to try and figure what he wants to do with his life. He and Felicity have more fights than any other time in their lives. She just wants to help him find his purpose, his passion, the same way she has her love for computers, but Felicity doesn't seem to realize that he's not like her, he's not good at school like that.

She does not agree with his reasoning for taking a year off after high school, but she accepts it and for the first time since they met they do not have their yearly meetup. Felicity is busy in Boston completing some prerequisite courses for MIT and although she's hinted about Oliver visiting her, checking out the campus, Oliver opts to stay at home and work with his mother's boyfriend, Walter. Walter who was also his dad's best friend moved to Tallahassee to be with Oliver's mother. While Oliver is not too fond of the idea, he does make his mother happy.

Oliver got an administrative job in Walter's firm and although it boring as hell, Oliver does make some good money for it. He can't complain, but he knows it's not what he wants to do with the rest of his life.

Felicity tries to understand, tries to help him the best that she can, but Oliver doesn't want to listen to any more of her lectures about the benefits of going to college, and for the first time in his life he is _glad_ she is so busy that they barely get to talk.

It's a terrible thing to think, and he just _misses_ her terribly, but every time they speak, it ends with an argument. She is stressed because of her classes, and he is just putting too much pressure on himself. In the end the forced break is welcomed. They don't go on an official break, Oliver doesn't think he could even form those words, but they do inadvertently put some distance between each other. Oliver more so than Felicity, he ignores her calls sometimes, and even returns them when he _knows_ she'd be in class. It's a shitty thing to do but he's just so _angry_ all of the time, and he's tired of taking it out on her.

Both his mother and Walter say that at 19 he doesn't need to figure out the rest of his life right this minute, that he can take things as it goes. Oliver though feels like at this point he should have some kind of direction, some kind of idea what he wants to do. The only thing he knows for certain is that he wants to marry Felicity, and that _can't_ be the only goal in his life, that's too much to put on _her_ shoulders and he just knows he may end up resenting her if he does, and that's the last thing that he wants.

So he pulls away, and it's the last thing he should do, but he can't help it. Felicity sends him angry text after angry text, sometimes well worded voicemails as well. He feels like scum, but he doesn't know what to do, he _can't_ break up with her but he feels like she deserves better.

He wants to be better for _her_.

One cold winter day, Oliver sits in his bedroom watching the frost gather on his window pane, Tallahassee hardly ever has a true winter, but this year it seems to be experiencing a cold front that seems to be mirroring Oliver's mood as of late. He's just about to drift off to sleep - because other than work that's all he really does, and be chauffeur to Thea and her million after school activities - when his bedroom door slams open banging against the wall _loudly_.

" _Oliver Jonas Queen."_

Oliver scrambles to his feet, his eyes wide in surprise when he sees Felicity standing in his bedroom, her eyes are blazing, her blonde hair a curly mess under her beanie, her scarf is hanging off her shoulders instead of around her neck and her nose is red from the cold and angry doesn't even begin sum up her current disposition.

She waves her arms around in anger, gesturing to herself, "Well, I'm here so do it."

Oliver is at a loss for words, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that she's standing here in his bedroom. "Felicity….I...what?"

"Break up with me!" Her voice cracks as she speaks, her bravado slowly slipping away. "You refuse to take my calls, even _see_ me so I assumed you wanted to break up with me but were too chicken shit to do it in person. Well, here I am. So. Do. It."

"Felicity." Oliver's own voice breaks as he takes a step towards, but his heart clenches when she shakes her head and takes a step back from him.

"21 months Oliver. 21 months that's how long since we've seen each other. When we started dating _four_ years ago we made a promise to each other that we'd try and visit at _least_ once a year. We knew doing the long distance thing was going to be hard, but we _both_ decided that we wanted this and were willing to make it work. What's changed Oliver? Is there someone else?"

"Felicity..."

"Oh God." Felicity looks sick to her stomach, she falls back on a nearby chair unraveling her scarf and hand ridding herself of her outerwear repeating those two words. Her eyes are red and filled with tears and Oliver feels like the worst person in the world. "Why didn't you just break up with me then?"

"Felicity! No!" Oliver says firmly finally getting some words in, he takes a seat at the end of his bed facing her, "There is no one else, there will never be anyone else."

"Then what the hell is going on, Oliver?" Felicity growls angrily. She's clearly frazzled, exhausted and looks like she hasn't slept in days and Oliver is fearful of just how she got all the way to Tallahassee in the first place. "I know things have been rough with us lately. I've been overwhelmed with school and you are trying to figure things out, so I gave you that space, but I haven't heard from you since Hanukkah. _Hanukkah,_ Oliver that was two _months_ ago. I believe you when you said there is no one else, but if you want to break up with me, just tell me what I did."

"You didn't do anything." Oliver promises, "and I don't want to break up with you."

How is he suppose to explain to her why he has been pulling away from her all these months when he doesn't know himself? How can he tell her that he thinks he finally found his calling but it's the very thing she would not approve of?

"Then what's going on? Avoiding my calls? Lying to me? That's not you, Oliver. That's not _us_."

"I never lied to you!" Oliver protests.

"I wanted to spend Christmas with you, I asked and you told me you were heading to San Diego to spend Christmas with your aunt. My mother spoke to your mother, she said you guys never left Tallahassee. Oliver, my family is living in _Georgia_ now. This is what we've wanted since we were 6 years old. I was home for over a _month_ Oliver, you were four _hours_ away and you didn't even bother to call me or visit me. I contemplated jumping on a bus so many times, but I was afraid of what I'd find if I came here. But then I was sitting in my cold dorm room, trying to understand basic cell biology and I said fuck it and I rented a car and here I am."

"YOU DROVE FROM BOSTON," Oliver shouts angrily. "Are you out of your fucking mind? That's at least two days drive, in the _dead_ of winter? Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"Clearly." Felicity snaps angrily, "Clearly, I thought trying to salvage a 5 year relationship was the wrong call. Why should I even bother if my boyfriend doesn't want anything to do with me. I don't know why I even I came here."

She makes move to leave but Oliver is too quick for her and he scrambles off his bed grabbing her by the hand stopping her, "Felicity, wait."

Felicity sighs loudly not even bothering to face him, "Why? Why should I Oliver? You've given me absolutely no reason to stay. You know when I concocted this asinine plan of mine, I was juiced up on redbull and I told myself I needed to see for myself, see that you no longer loved me, so that walking away would be easy. But I can't...I just...you're breaking my heart Oliver."

"I enlisted." Oliver whispers softly.

Felicity yanks her hand away from him and turns to finally look at him, but all Oliver sees is accusation and heartache, "You...you _enlisted_? Please tell me you mean _enrolled_ into a college and not enlisted in the _army_."

His silence is all the confirmation Felicity needs and she collapses against his bed, "I don't understand. Growing up we always said as admirable as it was, we both agreed we could never leave our family like that, when we started dating we said that we'd never do that to _our_ family. Oliver, I know you've been lost lately but do you really think this is the way to go?"

"I want to honor my father." Oliver says softly, "He did so much good in his life, I want to make him proud and follow in his footsteps. He helped save lives on a daily basis and meanwhile all I do is deliver mail to suits in a corporate building."

"Oliver, there are so many ways you can make a difference without joining the army." Felicity pleads her eyes filling with tears, "Think of your mother. You know what happened when you dad died, do you really want to put her through that again? To Thea? To…"

"You?" Oliver whispers softly, "you always did say that you didn't have what it takes to be a military wife. I can't ask you do that."

Felicity sniffles as she wipes her eyes, "So you thought you would just make the decision for the both of us? Pull away and then what I'd break up with you? You have another thing coming if you think I'm going to do your dirty work. You want to break up with me? Well, here I am, so do it. You've clearly figured out everything _else_ on your own, you might as well officially end this too."

"It's not fair of me to ask you to do this." Oliver says broken, trying to get her to understand, "We said after you graduated MIT we'd finally be together, but _this_ was never in our plans and I can't do that to you."

"No. What you should not have done is not consult me on this life changing thing, what you should _not_ have done is decide for _me_ that I should not be with you. What you _should_ have done is talk to me about it, tell me _why_ , get me to understand why this was important to you so that I could _support_ you, like I've _always_ done."

"I'm sorry." Oliver says in defeat. He sinks to the floor his back against his bed as he covers his face with his hands. "I've been such a terrible boyfriend. I was just so angry at the time, angry at myself and I was taking it out on you and I pulled away and then when I realized _this_ is what I want to do. I didn't know how to tell you. I really want this, I did research, for _hours...weeks_ even. I can see why my dad loved it so much. I really want to do this for him, but also for myself."

"Oliver, if this is so important to you, of course I'll support you." Felicity whispers. She takes a seat next to him on the floor, they are barely touching but Oliver feels like there is an ocean between them and it's entirely his fault. "You gotta talk to me, Oliver. You can't expect me to understand what going on unless you talk to me."

"I know, and I'll try harder." Oliver promises. He takes her hand in his, looking at how dwarfed it looks in his much larger hand, "did I fuck things up royally?"

"Not completely," Felicity admits softly, she turns to face Oliver and looks at him shyly, "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything." Oliver says immediately.

"Can I just get a hug?"

Oliver engulfs her in his arms, pulling her into his lap as she sobs into his shoulder and Oliver can feel his own eyes begin to fill the pain he's put both of them through overwhelming him. "I'm so sorry, Felicity."

"I know. I just really missed you."

They remain like that for the rest of the night until Felicity falls asleep in his arms, it doesn't take long, she's out like a light within 20 minutes and Oliver still can't believe the lengths she went through for him.

Felicity obviously can't afford to miss more days of school, so they spend their weekend driving back up to Boston and they talk. 11 hours on the road from Tallahassee to Washington and they spend those 11 hours talking, about Oliver's hope for the military, about Felicity's current classes. They talk about their past and their future, they make plans, it's the closest they have ever been in the 13 years they have known each other and it's perfect.

"This isn't the motel I told you about." Felicity says with a frown sitting forward in her seat to look at the high rise building that is the Marriot. "Oliver, what's going on?"

"I figured if we're going to stop for the night, why not do it in style?" Oliver grins mischievously as he parks the car.

Style is putting it lightly, Oliver goes all out, their balcony overlooks a park that is covered in white snow, they have a real fireplace and everything, it's romantic and just about perfect, everything Oliver was hoping for.

"Oliver, you _have_ to try this bed." Felicity practically _purrs_ as she rolls around on the bed her legs and arms spread like a starfish, her woolen sweater rising with every turn she makes and Oliver gets a glimpse of creamy white skin.

"I will, but first room service? I'm starving...what are you doing?" Oliver stutters when Felicity tugs off her sweater tossing it at him. She's in a barely there tank top and leggings with hot pink fuzzy socks, grinning impishly at Oliver, "just getting ready for bed. You want use my fake ID to get some champagne?"

Oliver laughs, he still can't believe she made a fake ID just so she could rent a car to drive to him. He grabs the menu and plops on the bed making Felicity bounce and giggle at the same time, it's amazing how much things have changed in 24 hours. 24 hours ago they were on the brink of a break up and now Oliver thinks they are closer than they have ever been before.

"Champagne?"

"Yea, we're celebrating right?" Felicity asks him, "you're starting a new chapter of your life soon. We need to celebrate it and we never got to celebrate our graduations either. Celebratory dinner. Order it."

They order the champagne and their big fancy meal consisted of loaded cheesy nachos, fries, chicken tenders, they basically eat like the teenagers they are and it's glorious.

As the night winds down Oliver's nerves get the best of him, he and Felicity haven't explicitly said what's going to happen tonight, but the air has changed since they finished eating and Felicity is currently in the bathroom and Oliver's trying not to wear a hole into the carpet. He plops onto the bed grabbing his phone in hopes to distract himself rather than worry about how he's going to broach the subject of sex. After everything that happened he shouldn't have even considered this, now he feels like an asshole.

He is so busy beating himself over this that he doesn't hear the bathroom door open until a throat clears. He looks up and almost slips off the bed in surprise, Felicity is standing at the doorway dressed in only the Marriot's complimentary bathrobe, her long blonde curls cascading down her back.

"Oh wow." Oliver utters in the most inelegant way possible, his cheeks pinking up matching the rosey colour of Felicity's.

"I figured, since we _are_ celebrating." Her words sound confident but Oliver can see the way she twist her fingers together that she is as nervous as he feels and that alone comforts him.

He reaches out to her, and she places her hand in his allowing him to pull her into his lap. He presses his forehead against hers his hand cupping her waist, "I don't want you to think that I got this fancy room for this. I don't want to pressure you."

Felicity loops her arms around his neck and smiles warmly, reassuringly at him, "I know, this is not something I just decided on my drive to see you, that was the furthest thing from my mind. I decided last summer I was ready for us to take this next step and my hope was over the winter break…"

"Oh." Oliver looks away ashamed but Felicity places her hand on his cheek gently pulling him back so that he would look at her.

"I'm not telling you that to make you feel guilty. I told you in the car somewhere between the Carolinas that I won't use it against you, and I keep my promises."

They were about 5 hours into their drive when they stopped to get gas and they had another big fight, they were both exhausted and irrational and Felicity said some hurtful things, throwing Oliver previous actions in his face and Oliver in turned snapped at her and said maybe they should have just broken up back in Tallahassee. To say things were tense for the next hour or so was an understatement, but they came to an understanding and they are both still learning from it.

"My point is, I love you." Felicity says firmly, her eyes going soft, "I've always loved you Oliver, you stole my heart ever since I was four years old. I want this moment with _you_ it's only ever been you."

"I'm sorry I made you think there was someone else." Oliver whispers against her cheek, breathing in the familiar bubblegum body spray, he can't believe after all these years she _still_ smells the same way.

She smells like home.

"There will _never_ be anyone else but you, Felicity. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Oliver." Felicity gasps her eyes wide.

"I'm not…I'm not asking what you think I'm asking." Oliver reiterates. "Our mothers would kill us. I'm just making my own promise to you. I know me joining the army was never part of our plans, I also know part of you would never be okay with it, but I'm going to make this promise to you, Felicity Smoak. I promise that I will make my way back to you and I _will_ marry you, one day."

"Oliver." She is barely able to choke out his name, her eyes filling with tears and Oliver looks at her in alarm.

"I didn't want to make you cry!"

Felicity throws her arms around him and laughs loudly, "You dork, you don't say all those wonderful things and don't expect me _not_ to cry."

"Oh." Oliver cheeks pink up in embarrassment, he swipes his thumb against her wet cheek and smiles, "so we're okay?"

"I love you." Felicity declares just before she peppers his face with kisses.

Oliver's arms wrap around her waist as his hands run along her back, his fingers digging into the soft plush material just as their lips meet. They kiss lazily for a few minutes or two neither of them taking things any further until Felicity places her hands on his chest and pulls back, her eyes are shiny and bright and full of mischief.

She slides off his lap and when he tries to reach for her she waves a finger at him in the negative. He watches as she slowly loosens the knot in her robe, smiling coyly at him. He gapes at her as she slowly part the lapels of her robe and he sees the curve of her creamy skin, his fingers just itching to touch her, but he knows she wants to play, so he let's her have the reigns for now, they are still so new to intimacy.

She shimmies a bit, lowering the robe over her shoulder then pulling it back up, teasing him. The striptease is something they are both comfortable with, something they have none numerous times via the skype chats and the familiarity of it eases Oliver's nerves somewhat.

Those nerves skyrocket when she drops the rope and slowly makes her way towards him, this is really happening.

She places her arms on his shoulders, looping her fingers behind his head, his own hands going to her bare waist, "Hi."

They exchange nervous smiles but Oliver tightens his grip on her waist tugging her a little closer to him so that their lips can meet. He kisses her deeply, his fingers curling into her hip.

"I love you."

He murmurs softly sweet nothings against her skin, pressing his lips against the column of her throat and slowly making his way down, her fingers tugging lightly on his hair when he finally wraps his lips around her nipple.

When she hisses out his name in pleasure he only takes that as encouragement, his other hand rising to massage her neglected breast as he lavishes the other. After a few minutes her switches sides and he can see her breast pink from his beard and he just knows it's going to leave a mark and the caveman in him _really_ likes that.

Felicity keens out his name and when her nails dig into his skin he knows it's time to move her to the bed. He hooks his arm around her waist pulling her into his lap, kissing her wetly before he rolls them over onto the middle of their king size bed. She's lying sprawled out on the bed, panting, her chest heaving with every breath she takes, both her nipples rosy red from his ministrations.

Oliver kneels between her parted legs, tugging off his t-shirt in one swoop his boxers soon following. Felicity is looking up at him with hooded eyes, biting her lip while her hand wanders between her legs. Oliver growls at the image she makes grabbing his cock and pumping it, once, twice, if only to find some momentarily release. He has too many plans for her, for him to lose his shit so soon.

Felicity for the most part giggles at his strangle cry, her giggles turning into soft moans as she slips a finger between her parted folds.

"Fuck." Oliver hisses at the sight, watching as her eyes flutter close and she slowly rocks her hips against her hands.

It's not until her foot brushes against his thigh does Oliver actually register that he can _touch_ her, he's not watching her on a grainy laptop screen. He moves so swiftly he doesn't give Felicity time to figure out what he has planned before he has his head between her parted thighs and his tongue on her heated skin.

It's not the first time he's done this for her, and he knows exactly what she likes, remembers how to move his tongue in just the right way to have her panting out his name, squirming below him.

He presses his thumb firmly against her clit just as he slips two fingers in and she explodes around his fingers clenching them tightly and Oliver can't wait to feel her walls flutter around his cock.

He pulls back and moves to hover over his face, his lips coated with her juices and she looks up at him sated, her eyes fluttering closer, "You tired?"

He's already setting himself up for a long night in the shower when Felicity surprises him by grabbing him by the back of the neck their lips colliding in a heated kiss, "No way in hell."

She murmurs against his lips, running her tongue along his wet lips and that's when he realizes she's tasting herself on his lips and from the way her hips squirm beneath him, and the soft purrs she makes, she likes it, a _lot._

It's the hottest fucking thing he's ever seen.

He releases his hold on her for two seconds and scrambles off the bed in search for his bag, mentally slapping himself for not leaving the packet of condoms in the bedside drawer instead of the pocket of his bag.

By the time he gets back, foil wrapper in his mouth, Felicity is still sprawled out on the bed, tugging on one of her nipples with one hand, while she slips a few fingers between her parted lips.

"Fuck." Oliver hisses at the sight, momentarily forgetting his task, but when she moans out his name, he quickly moves back into action, sheathing himself as quickly as possible.

He crawls over to her, hips aligned with hers, his hand pumping his cock as she widens her legs. "You ready, baby?"

He can see the nervousness cloud her eyes, but she nods her head in reassurance, Oliver uses his free hand to grab one of hers and he aligns himself at her entrance, "I'll go slow, if you want me to stop, just let me know."

She nods her head biting her lip and as Oliver slowly slips between her parted lips as he watches her for any sign of distress, his thighs protesting, his body wanting nothing more to push all the way in, but he holds back, completely focused on her.

When he meets a bit of resistance, Felicity's nails dig into the palm of his hand, he's just about to pull out but she shakes her head from side to side encouraging him to continue.

When he's all the way in he hisses softly, it's nothing like he's ever felt before, Felicity is surrounding him completely, tightly and it's the greatest thing in the world. He looks at her for permission to move, but her eyes are shut tightly.

"Baby?" He whispers softly in concern, and when her eyes finally flutter open and she gives him the okay, he's almost afraid to move.

"Oliver, it's okay." She promises her voice is slightly strained but she moves her hips lightly and Oliver gasps at the unfamiliar feeling.

He moves at a painfully slow pace, watching her every move she still looks as though she is in pain but her free hand moves to grab his ass massaging it, encouraging him to move and so he picks up his pace, she feels tighter with each thrust of his hips.

He can feel his balls clenching and he knows he's close, his hips are rocking at random intervals. He and Felicity never break eye contact, but he knows she's not enjoying herself nearly as much as he is, he can see the barest hint of pain in her eyes.

"Let go." She whispers as she raises her hips meeting his thrusts, he knows she is nowhere close to coming, and he wants to wait for her, but she is so tight around him and his hips move at their own accord chasing his release. He shouts out her name just as he comes bracing himself over her, but Felicity grabs him tugging him so he collapses on top her her, her lips finding his and she kisses him heatedly.

He pulls back to look at her, slightly ashamed, but Felicity grabs his face before he can open his mouth her eyes narrowing at him, "If you apologize, I'm going to slap you."

"But you didn't…" Oliver protests weakly.

"I did, just not _during_." Oliver goes to protest again, but Felicity silences him with a kiss. "We talked about this, we knew the chances of that happening was slim to none. Now, c'mon you're gonna give a girl a complex, if you're so bummed out after we have sex for the first time."

This time Oliver laughs wholeheartedly at her comment, it's so ridiculously matter of fact and _Felicity_. He kisses her softly, just as he shifts so that he slips out of her, both of them hisses against their lips for different reasons.

"You, okay?" Oliver asks softly, tucking her curly hair behind her ear, Felicity nods wincing slightly as she stretches out her legs beneath him.

"I'm perfect." She promises kissing him again, this time lazy and slow.

After he gets rid of the condom, they spend the next few hours talking and exploring each other, but still giving Felicity time to recover.

The next morning they wake up in each other's arms for the first time, and Oliver knows he wants this for the rest of his life.

Oliver leaves Boston with a heavy heart the next day, but with promises to call Felicity as much as she can afford, and more importantly with the promise of spending the summer together like they always planned.

As with all their plans, the third week into the summer Oliver gets the call to report to Fort Benning, Georgia. It figures the one time they are in the same state it's when he's unreachable for most of his stay. Felicity promises him with teary eyes and a heavy heart that they will keep in contact, they'll see each other again, after all they are veterans at this long distance thing.

She's right, he knows she is, but it doesn't stop him releasing a few silent tears as he walks into base camp leaving his mother, sister and Felicity all equally teary eyed in Felicity's car.

* * *

Basic training is taxing, both emotionally and physically, he takes almost 2 months to be allowed cell phone privileges and the short phone calls to home aren't nearly enough time, not when he has to divide it between home and Felicity.

Oliver and Felicity take up writing letters to each other, his mother always told him that she fell in love with his father's words first and foremost. Afterall, back then that's the only way they had to contact each other and Oliver has to admit that sometimes on the toughest most brutal nights, Felicity words are the only things that comfort him.

When Oliver graduates four months later, it's only with his mother and sister watching on. Felicity has midterms the very same day and unfortunately wasn't able to make it, Thea records the entire thing for her, and she cries when she watches it, barely able to talk to Oliver on the phone as she does.

His very first assignment takes him to the desert in the middle east and it's the first Christmas he spends without his family. Keeping in contact with them is much harder than during basic training, and Oliver's heart still hurts every time he has to tell his mother goodbye and he can see the pain in her eyes.

Felicity tries to put on a brave front as well, listens attentively when he tells her about his day. He loves what he's doing, taking down men, putting people away, making the world a safe place, but he can see how much of a toll it takes on his family every time he talks to them. He can see the way Felicity's eyes widen when an explosion occurs not too far from his base camp. The worry in her eyes, the anxious way she gets when she doesn't want to say goodbye, even more so when they are forced to end their conversation because of an emergency.

They still exchange letters, it takes much longer for either of them to receive them, in fact they probably talk long before the letters arrive, but they both agreed they love the personal touches and comfort the letters bring them.

Felicity graduates the top of her class in the fall of 2013, at 19 years old she is the first woman to ever complete a MIT accelerated program in Cybersecurity. It's a pretty big fucking deal and Oliver learns that he's not getting sent back home until the first week of November, exactly 2 weeks _after_ Felicity graduates.

Oliver knows she's heartbroken about it, he knows she tries to hide it, instead focusing on the fact that he's going to be home with her for the holidays, the very first in almost 4 years. They are both excited at the prospects of spending an entire month together maybe even more, it's a first for them and Oliver has the perfect way to start their holiday.

Felicity graduates in a massive auditorium, when she walks the stage, Donna and Thea get to their feet and scream the loudest, Oliver's mother sits next to them cheering on politely in the only way Moira Queen can, Walter Steele her new husband equally poised as her.

Felicity's father is unsurprisingly absent and Oliver briefly wonders if the man even cares about his only daughter. Oliver has only ever met Noah Kuttler three times in his life and each time Oliver has been less that impressed. He, unlike Oliver's father, never once took vacation or ever tried to spend what little time he could with his family and Oliver has always resented him for that. Two years ago Noah was dismissed from the army and disappeared without a trace. Felicity takes it with stride or at least she appears that way, it's just so much Oliver could do on the other side of world.

Oliver shakes his head not wanting to think about that idiot on Felicity's special day. Oliver can't help but laugh at the sight Donna and Thea make, even more so at the proud but embarrassed grin Felicity throws them when one of the director's hands her, her diploma. Her little fist pump as she steps off the stage causes the entire crowd to laugh, and it's just so very Felicity.

Oliver isn't watching from a grainy feed in the middle east, no Oliver is standing in the back of the crowd, still dressed in his uniform and a ridiculously large bouquet of flowers in his hands cheering on. He had requested an early leave under the impression it wouldn't be approved but two days before her graduation he gets the letter and Oliver jets off to Boston.

Naturally, the universe is against him and there is an accident on the highway and he misses the beginning of the ceremony, he does make it in time to see her cross the stage and that's all he wanted anyway.

Once she takes her seat Oliver slips out the back and waits for her under a shaded tree. She comes tumbling out of the auditorium with a sea of people her mother and Thea flanking her on either side and Oliver can see his mother and Walter a few feet behind, but it's Felicity's face that has Oliver's attention. She's radiating with joy, all smiles and laughter and he tells himself that moment will be forever engraved in his mind as long as he lives.

If Oliver thought she lit up before, it's nothing compared to when she catches sight of him under the trees. She has to hold onto her mother, her hand going to her chest she almost stumbles down the last few steps to get towards him and Oliver is brought to tears as he makes his way towards her, the ache in his chest that he's been feeling for the past few years finally easing.

Felicity barrels into him, jumping in his arms and sobbing out his name, she clings to him like a lifetime and when they kiss it's a mixture of laughter and salty tears. He pulls back just enough to press his forehead against hers, Felicity still in his arms. He's sniffles softly, his emotions already getting the best of him, when he opens his eyes, he sees she's doing no better than he is.

"When I hadn't heard from you the past few days, I thought something happened," Felicity whispers, her voice breaking, her fingers clinging to the back of his head.

"Sorry, I was in transit." Oliver replies squeezing her to him one more time, almost as though he's confirming that no he's not dreaming again, she really is here in his arms.

It's been almost 3 years since he's held her in his arms and not for the first time Oliver is regretting his decision to join the army. She clings to him like a koala her head buried in his neck and Oliver knows she needs a little time to calm down, and just take him in just like he is taking her in.

He looks over her shoulder and gives his mother and sister equally watery smiles, Thea is holding Felicity's forgotten bouquet of flowers that Oliver dropped in his haste to grab Felicity.

Oliver presses a kiss the top of her head, rubbing her back as she gets to feet, her arms loose around his hips now, "I have something I want to ask you."

"Oliver, I'll go anywhere with you." She chokes out probably assuming he wants to whisk her away for this added time they were given, she is not wrong.

"That's good." Oliver says slowly his throat tightening as his palms begin to sweat. He takes a small step back, ignoring her look of confusion and fishes for something in his cargo pants, once his fingers clasps the small box he lowers himself on one knee.

Felicity's loud gasp is only barely heard from Thea and Donna's small squeaks, his 11 year old sister can't help but omit a loud 'oh my god' to follow, but Oliver only has eyes for Felicity who has her hands to her mouth, her already red eyes filling up again.

"Oliver."

"Felicity Smoak, you've been in my life for as long as either of us can remember, in fact I don't remember what my life was like before you were in it, and I don't want to ever know what that is like. We defied the odds when everyone told us long distance relationships don't work and you've been my constant, my rock for over 13 years. You've been with me for every important moment in my life and all I want is for you to continue to be there for me, from now until forever. Felicity, will you marry me?"

Tears are flowing freely down her face as she sobs out his name unable to find her voice. She's nodding her head, but words have left her. She lowers herself grabbing his face and kissing him soundly the ring in Oliver's hand squished between them.

"YES!" Thea cheers loudly, squeaking when she realizes what she did and moves to hide behind her mother as Oliver laughs looking at Felicity eagerly.

"Oh yes! Duh Yes!" Felicity says quickly kissing him again, laughing against his lips.

Oliver pulls back grinning widely when she offers him her left hand that is shaking like a leaf, he is no better as he tries to put it on.

"I'll do better when I put on the wedding ring." Felicity only laughs in return and kisses him again, both of them still kneeling on the grass.

The rest of the day is a blur of celebrations, they along with their families go out to lunch to celebrate Felicity's graduation as well as her engagement. They make MIT news as the newly engaged couple, there is even a youtube video of both their reunion and his proposal.

Four _different_ versions of it, all from different angles, he's pretty sure one of them was his sister's copy because he can hear her swooning, giggling with Donna.

When Oliver asks about that Felicity points out that it's a tech school, the students see and know everything. Her words freak him out to say the least, but he's too happy to care, and when he finds time to himself, he finds himself rewatching the video, reliving the moment.

He and Felicity drive back to Tallahassee while they families fly back, after Felicity's father left, his mother invited them to move in with her and Thea until Donna found her footing. Donna has since moved out and found her own place for her and Felicity in the same neighbourhood. It figures that when Oliver and Felicity are finally living in the same neighbourhood Oliver gets stationed halfway across the world.

They are 4 hours out of Tallahassee when Felicity turns to Oliver the permanent smile on her face still ever present, "Oliver, marry me."

Oliver laughs not even taking his eyes off the road, "I think I already asked _you_ that, and I think that ring on your finger means you answered me. Unless you have a ring for me too?"

"What if I have a wedding ring for you?" Felicity offers quietly.

"What?" Oliver asks, he has an idea of where she's going with this, but he needs to hear her say it.

"My dad, he sent me money for graduation." Felicity says softly holding up her phone, despite the fact that Oliver can't read it while driving, "He probably thinks that would make up for leaving my mom and I, let's do something good with it. Let's get married."

This time Oliver pulls into the next service stop and looks at at Felicity with wide eyes, "you're serious about this."

Felicity nods eagerly, "why wait? You said it yourself we've been dating for almost 13 years. We both know nothing in life is guaranteed, who knows when we'll see each other again once you get reassigned again."

"Felicity, honey, I don't want us to get married because you are afraid we'll never get the chance." Oliver says softly. "We don't need to rush this, we'll have all the time in the world.

"You don't know that, you can't promise that." Felicity chokes out, her lip trembling.

Oliver unbuckles his seatbelt pushing his seat back all the way and then pulling her into his arms, "You're right, I can't promise you that, but what I can promise you is that I will do _everything_ in my power to get back to you."

"I know." Felicity sniffs, "I wish the fear of losing you would go away."

Oliver has nothing to say to that, they both know anything he says would be a lie. They sit like that for a few minutes till she's calmed down and Oliver presses a kiss to her forehead, "if you really want to find the nearest chapel or lawyers office, wherever the hell we can get a marriage license, we can and I'll marry you right this moment."

Felicity stays quiet for a moment and then sighs into his chest, "Today was an emotional day, we shouldn't be doing something _this_ drastic on a limb. That and our mothers and Thea would murder us."

"You're not wrong." Oliver laughs wholeheartedly in agreement.

In the end they don't get married, they spend a blissful two months together, going across the country to some of their favourite places that they never got to experience with the other, it was magical, to put it lightly. There were many times throughout their trip where Oliver just wants to grab Felicity and marry her right then and there but he knows at 21 and 20 they are nowhere ready for that, for the first time in their lives they are finally allowed to just be them. There is no need to speed things along.

Three days after New Year's Oliver gets shipped off yet again, he wishes he could say that it gets easier to say goodbye with time but after 13 years of tearful goodbyes in an airport he still feels like that little 7 year old boy who had to say goodbye to his very first best friend.

Only this time he knows she'll be there when he returns.

* * *

As with _anything_ in their lives, the day they finally get married is not as they expected.

Two years after Oliver proposes, he gets hurt on the field and sent to London for emergency surgery on his femur that is broken in three places. He spends a month in London recovering until he's stable enough to be sent back to Tallahassee.

Felicity is at his side the moment they get the news, she flies out to London and stays at his bedside, after two weeks she asks him to marry her again and this time they get married in the little hospital chapel with a nurse as their witness and their family looking on via skype.

It's not what they expected but everything they hoped for.

Oliver isn't dismissed from the army, instead he's put on medical leave and he and Felicity spend the first 8 months of their marriage together, something neither of them had ever consider.

Oliver's road to recovery is anything but easy and whenever he looks back on that time, he's certain that's when he fell in love with Felicity all over again. The first few months Oliver was not the best husband anymore than he was the best patient, but Felicity stuck by him no matter, taking everything in stride. All the pain, the anger, the tears, they went through it all those 8 months and Oliver is certain that that would be the greatest test to their marriage, that because they got through this they could get through everything.

When Oliver gets the call about scheduling his evaluations to determine if he's fit to go back on the field, he's expected a fight, tears and yelling. But once again Felicity surprises him and although the tears are there, she never once tells him not to go.

"I know how important this is to you. I saw what good you did, all those soldiers that visited you while you were recovering, they told me stories about you, they came to thank you for saving their lives. I met their husbands and wives, I met families that are still together because of you, Oliver. You've done so much good in your short time there, how can I ask you to give up a part of who you are, who you've become?"

Her eyes are brimming with tears as she tells him this, but her voice so full of conviction and he knows that she's made up her mind.

And three days after their one year anniversary, after making full recovery, Oliver and Felicity find themselves back at an airport saying goodbye, yet again.

They've both accepted this is the life they chose to live and although the goodbyes never get easy they both know that although they may be two ships in the night only ever passing each other briefly, they will always make it back to each other.

 **Epilogue**

Growing up a military kid, Felicity was very familiar with change, after all when you moves houses every 18 months or so you learn to not get attached to one thing, one person or one place. Houses weren't _homes_ to her, they were just places she and her mother stayed in, as her father tooked them all over the world. People were always acquaintances, she protected her heart from the heartache of saying goodbye after she had to said goodbye to her very first best friend at 5 years old.

She grew up with the promise that she will find someone settle in one place and never move, she'll learn for once in her life one it means to have roots in one place, to be ground, to have a _home_. Naturally, the universe has other plans for her and she falls in love with that very best friend she could never let go. She falls in love with the one boy who was destined for greatness, greatness that required him being away from her years at end.

It took almost 20 years later for Felicity to truly understand what the term _home_ meant in more ways than one. As she got older she started associated home with not the places she lived but wherever the people loved were and she will always believe that.

But, for the first time in her life Felicity not only has a family but a _place_ to call home. For the first time in her life she's lived in the same house for more than 2 years and all though that stability is somewhat foreign to her, it's the fact that she has someone to come home to every single day is something she never thought she would get the moment Oliver told her that he enlisted almost 10 years ago.

She walks into the silent living room navigating her way through dozen of toys, a sleeping husky blocking the entrance. When she tries to nudge Scruffy aside, she only get a soft gruff in response and she can't help but laugh as she steps over her grumpy dog.

Scruffy and her go way back, he was an one year anniversary gift from Oliver all those years ago, someone to keep Felicity in their empty house whenever Oliver was deployed, 4 years ago. Scruffy and Felicity were thick as thieves until the newest Queen join their family a little over a year ago and he's all but forgotten Felicity in favour of keeping an eye on the newest Queen.

A smile blossoms on Felicity's face the moment she locates the rest of her slumbering family. Oliver is lying across the sofa, their 14 month old son Ethan is perched on his father's chest, only in his diapers sleeping just as soundly, both of them dead to the world.

After Oliver's accident he was deployed two more times and Felicity was certain this was what her life will be, she had accepted that she fell in love with a man who was passionate about protecting people and thus won't be around as much as she would like. But, that all changed 2 years ago when the little stick had two blue lines instead of one.

Two blue lines changed their entire lives in more ways than one.

On hearing that she was pregnant Oliver immediately puts the paperwork to return stateside opting out to be deployed again and by the time she is 9 months pregnant he is well on his way to opening a new security firm with a fellow recruit John Diggle with Felicity aiding them in cyber security.

She thought for sure that he would one day wake up with the itch to go back out there, but after 5 months maternity leave _Felicity_ is the one that's itching to go back to the office. She's back at in the office when Ethan is 6 months olds and Oliver stepped right in and took over, it's been a little under a year and her husband shows no signs of being interested in getting back to the security firm.

She's never seen her husband so at peace than when he's taking care of their son and every day she thanks her lucky stars that Oliver kept his promise all those years ago and found his way back to her, because for the first time in her life Felicity has both a house and a family to call home.

It is everything she ever hoped for as a child, and that much more.


End file.
